


Libertalia

by AntipodeanPixie



Series: DCR Shorts [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22300732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntipodeanPixie/pseuds/AntipodeanPixie
Summary: Granny cleans house
Series: DCR Shorts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605253
Kudos: 2





	Libertalia

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for a location in Fallout 4.

"Heading to Libertalia huh? You feeling like dodging gunfire?" Nick asked as Amry detoured from the sheriff office to the wharf, curious about the mess of ship's hulls floating in the harbour. 

"What's Libertalia?" She asked, poking open a door into what must have been a customs office once upon a time. 

"Only one of the biggest, nastiest raider nests in the Commonwealth," Nick told her, hanging back and scoping the outside of the building before following her inside. She was rifling through the desk and pocketing pens, and looked up at him with a sly smile. 

"What do you feel like doing today Nick? Because I feel like doing a little house keeping." The way she lifted and checked her sniper rifle left absolutely no doubt as to what she meant. 

"Right now?" He asked. Amry looked thoughtful for a moment, raising her rifle to peer through the scope at the raider nest. It was an impressive setup. 

Various tugs and fisher boats, small stuff linked with a mess of catwalks, shack ladders and flotsam. What looked to be overturned hulls supporting platforms. Electric lights, what looked like some kind of bar with an open sign. Something wider with gulls about, possibly some kind of rubbish dump. And a truly impressive wreck of a freighter with a shanty town built up the deck to the capsized ship's bow. 

"I don't like how close it is to Nordhagen," she said, naming one of their trade centres. Starlight Drive-in and Jamaica Plains were both large settlements and trading hubs due to their location, but Nordhagen was one of their biggest water producers. 

"A lotta pure water like that's gonna be a siren's song to Raiders, and that's even before you add the provisioners," Nick agreed, crouching down by where Amry had rested her rifle's barrel on a window sill. 

"If we go through now, we should be able to- Hang on." 

The familiar stuttering whirl of a vertibird. She hadn't thought she'd be hearing that sound again when she'd taken a long frosty nap, but lo and behold, the USA's bullying military was alive and well. Fuckers. And it seemed the vertibirds were even more unreliable than when she'd first ridden in them. 

"Now what do they want?" Nick muttered, as he watched the vertibird and Amry watched the alarm rise on the flotilla. 

"Well, bunch of raiders floating in the harbour? What xenophobic authoritarian with airborne firepower could resist that barrel of fish?" Amry posited, lining up shots. 

“When you put it that way, I can almost understand them. Gives me the creeps," Nick shuddered slightly, crouching down by Amry. 

"That's me. A dispenser of understanding and grandmotherly wisdom," Amry said. The minigun on the vertibird opened fire. "No paladins. Must have dropped them off somewhere." 

"Great. I'll keep an eye out for any paranoid tin cans sneaking up on us." Nick told her. Amry found a raider trying to hide from the circling vertibird. He was doing a pretty good job of it, but unfortunately his position left him wide open to Amry. 

"D'you need a mirror?" She asked. A sharp cracking pop that sounded almost like a staple gun, and the raider dropped with his head turned into chunky salsa. 

"Verrry funny," Nick dead-panned as he sat beside her, looking out the door they'd entered through. Amry continued picking off the unwary raiders, each silenced pop doing her best to drop those who were either alone or behind somebody else, making it hard to spot her position. 

"Now I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure those birds aren't meant to catch fire," Nick murmured. Amry grunted an affirmative as the two watched the left rotor fail and the tail burn. 

"There's not going to be anyone alive," Amry muttered as she slipped down to the wharf, padding out onto the jetties. 

"You sound awful sure." 

"Vertibirds were designed to explode if crashed."

"You sure? I always thought that was just shoddy engineering." 

"You're talking to an Army Engineer." Amry said with a small bitter smile as the vertibird did precisely what she said. The pilot aimed for the water, and not a full three seconds later it exploded. The explosion was dampened by the water, and she could hear some ragged whoops from the main shanty ship.

"Why would the army want the 'birds to explode?" Nick asked.

"Things were getting desperate. If your 'bird crashed, it could be salvaged by the enemy. If you were going down anyway, you were supposed to aim for the biggest clump you could find and rest secure in the knowledge that your death was gonna take a dozen of them out with you." As they checked the boats systematically, the raiders up top giving up at the apparent end of any threat, Nick caught a glimpse of Amry's face. 

She talked about a lot of things, prewar. She described what candy had been like to Piper ("The only reason there's so much bubblegum and gum drops left is because bubble gum was made by the mile since it was cheap, and nobody liked the bloody gum drops anyway"). She talked about flowers and butterflies and small minutiae, nearly falling asleep on subway cars. Her childhood barefoot in a commune and her distant if affable relationship with her father, her college years with Nora and Nate and how heart broken they were at Nora's death. 

But she never said much about why she knew how to take apart a set of power armour. Didn't talk about her accuracy with weapons that was more in line with MacCready than your average housewife prewar. Didn't talk about how she could crack coding, or knew just how and why vertibirds exploded.

* * *

They were crossing one of the longer gangways when suddenly they both heard a spluttering cough. As one their heads cocked and they inched to the edge. Amry lay down on her front, low and cautious, and peeked her head over. Then suddenly she was moving, tucking her heels under her and shoving her rifle and rucksack at Nick.

"Jesus Nick, we got a live one!" She hissed at him and shoved her hands into the water. Clutching to the underside of the ramshackle planks was a member of the Brotherhood, and Amry shoved her hands under his arm pits before she straight up levered him into the air, rising up with her legs and then holding him up into the air like a half downed kitten. 

"Hang on, kid, we got yah," Nick told him while the guy's legs kicked feebly. Amry didn't put him down, simply hauling him back to the nearest vessel's cab. It was one of the higher floating ships with a shack built on it, and she carried him in before putting him down. Nick followed, glancing out to make sure they'd not been spotted. Nope. No movement. 

"Ok kid, you need your clothes off right now. It's goddamn January and the only reason you didn't hit ice is because of all the salt," Amry told him. The kid was shivering so hard his teeth clacked while Amry ransacked the shack. There were spare longjohns in one of the crates, and Amry pulled them out and shook them off. 

"She's right. If you don't get out of those, it's just gonna be a race if either the cold or the radiation gets you. Which reminds me, we got some RadAway in here?" Nick asked as he set Amry's rucksack down and started rifling through it. 

"M-my squad!" The kid chattered. Amry turned to him with a look of nothing but firm kindness. 

"Hun, you're gonna be the only one out of that crash. I'm still working through the amazement of you coming out of it alive." 

"She yelled at me to jump, before we hit the water. Then the explosion... it shoved me back against the docks." He said, slowly and shaking his head. 

"Yeah." Amry's voice was full of sympathy. "Listen, I don't want her quick thinking to go to waste. So I need you to take your wet things off. Keep your weapons if it makes you feel better. Put this on. I know I just dug it out of a raider's stuff, but it's dry and it's gonna do better at keeping you warm and live." 

Amry went to scope out the rest of the flotilla, looking through her rifle's sights and listening. She heard the peel and slap of wet clothes being removed. 

"Who are you?" The soldier asked, and she could hear chaffing behind her. Amry cocked a thumb behind her. 

"Nick Valentine, Synth Detective. If you're missing people you want found, he's your guy. Helped me find my husband's murderer, actually." 

"And that's the General of the Minutemen mothering you. Here, take this." Nick held out the bottle of RadAway to the soldier who blinked slowly at him. He took the familiar pills and popped one into his mouth, wincing as he tried to swallow it dry. Nick took pity on him and pulled out a can of purified water, handing it to him. He nodded, eyes a little distant as he sipped. Nick slipped up to Amry.

"Kid's right spooked," he whispered to her. "Don't think I could blame him. Looks like he's got a fair few rads too. Keep an eye on him. I'm gonna see if I can find him some more dry clothes." 

Nick slipped out, padding back down the way and keeping low to remain out of sight. Amry crouched by the kid, hauling her own winter coat off and tucking it over his shoulders. 

"Hopefully Nick'll be able to find you something. For now, stick your arms in that and sit on the mattress before you shiver out of your clothes." She told him. "I'll see if I can find you some food. Might help with the shock and it'll help you warm up if you've got some fuel in you. You taken that RadAway yet?" 

"I should have took my own," he said, eyes still a little too wide. "Standard procedure. Use Brotherhood equipment where possible, found equipment is unreliable." He struggled into the coat, soaking in the blissful extra warmth while Amry hung his soaked gear over the shelves to dry. 

"Well, can't argue with that. Now. What's your name and number?" 

"Squire Thompson, GE-4367K" he rattled off, still shivering strongly. 

"Huh. Well, don't you worry, Squire Thompson. Granny's gonna take care of you." Amry dug into her rucksack. Out of it came a slightly squashed brahmin sandwich, the bread kind of chunky and rough in texture, but pretty edible, especially with the slices of fried tato and boiled carrot. "Here. Home made lunch for you. I've got enough to last me til home." The boy picked at the newspaper wrapping a little suspiciously. "Don't worry, the meat's brahmin. I wouldn't be mean enough to feed you mirelurk sandwiches." 

"I uh, thank you, General, Ma'am." Thompson said and took a brave mouthful of sandwich. From the look on his face, it was a good sight better than he was expecting. 

"Well you're pretty darn lucky," Nick said, sliding back in. He had a pair of boots and a leather jacket in one hand, a scarf slung around his neck and a sleeping bag under the other arm. "Managed to find some useful things out there. Second hand, but should fit you well enough." Second hand. Code for 'I pulled it off a dead body still warm' more often than not.

"Good haul, Nick. Alright Thompson. You bundle up and eat your sandwich. Nick and I are gonna clean up the rest of this shit show." 

"Hey. Uh." She turned to look at the boy. And boy he was, really. Still gangly, looking small in his borrowed clothes, clutching the sleeping bag around himself. "I uh. Be careful? There were a lot of bodies on one of the platforms." 

"I know kid. Raiders are some of the worst in the Commonwealth. A deathclaw will dismember you because it's a deathclaw. Raiders do it for shits and giggles." Her eyes softened a little, before she joined Nick.

* * *

"Well shit." Nick's covered hand rested heavy on her shoulder as Amry rocked back on her heels. A dozen or so dead, left out here for the gulls, or submerged for the fish. Locked into cages with molerats for the giggles to watch all parties die in slow agony. Mostly settlers. One missing Minuteman, she'd had his name and description left with Daisy and Vadim and Kessler, circulated around their affiliated settlements, for weeks. She'd have to tell his grandmother. One hand over her eyes. She'd take a deep breath, but her nose was full of rot and salt and blood. Even goddamn Boston Prep School hadn't been this bad. And then she stood, eyes glittering and fierce as she turned to Nick, the grim line of his mouth as he checked his revolver. 

"We're not leaving a single one of them alive." 

"You got it sweetheart."

* * *

Firstly, they made the raiders very, very nervous. Amry was a good shot. Not quite MacCready levels of gifted, but when it came to raiders squinting out from behind ramshackle walls full of holes that weren't running everywhere, she was lethal. Finally, they seemed to get the picture and hid further back in, where she couldn't see them. They took the gondola across, Nick propping up sheet metal they'd found on the garbage barge while Amry kept her sights on the landing pad. One raider poked his head out, only to drop with his head a foot away when her .50 slug ripped through his throat. She stepped over him, face cold as she slung the rifle onto her back. Nick checked his revolver and watched her back. Sword drawn, Amry was swift and ruthless. Constantly checking the door edges and the walkways for traps and mines, beheading most of the raiders they came across before they could say a word. Halfway up, one managed to fire a shot that missed before Amry cut her down, restarting the alarm for the remaining handful. 

"It's called shooting straight, rookie!" One yelled at them, her attention on Nick. She didn't see Amry swing around the other side of the partition to cut her down while her partner scrambled to reload. 

"It's called situational awareness, rookie," she told him, teeth bared in a feral rictus grin. Nick got that one. There sounded like there was just one raider left, right up on the bow, when she picked the lock to the captain's cabin. 

Amry's eye was caught by the terminal, and she was hacking her way into it before Nick could even offer a hand. Using the shortcuts built in, she had it open and bare in moments. Nick wandered through the room, giving the place a quick check over. Surprisingly homely for a raider. Probably wasn't born one, or at least hadn't been one for long. Lot of energy weapons. He popped open a foot locker to look within it and froze for a second. Laser musket. Minuteman outfit, the old uniform they used to wear. And....

He was turning to Amry with the flag in hand when he saw she was transfixed by something on the terminal. Then her fingers began to fly. A few short taps, a typed command. Then she turned to see Nick, holding up the flag. Minuteman blue, stars and crossed rifle and lightning bolt. 

"They were Minutemen. They got here 2282. They lasted a year before...." 

"Before they turned to raiding like every other scumbag at heart out here," Nick finished. Amry looked... he wasn't sure. A specific kind of distraught. He stepped up close by her, good hand resting on her shoulder. That seemed to shake her out of it a little, as she stared up at him with eyes glittering and fierce. 

"Preston never knows. I burned that terminal. We kill whoever's left up top, and we never. Tell. Anyone."   
The Commonwealth was full of secrets. Ones people kept, ones people hid. Heavens knew they stumbled across enough forgotten ones. Amry had always been thorough when she put her mind to it. She wanted this secret destroyed. Nick folded up the flag and tucked it in under his coat.

Amry nodded once, sharp, and turned to the final door.

* * *

Her final words to Wire were 'I'm the General.'

Amry fired the flare standing over his corpse. It arced up and over the water, clearly visible from Nordhagen. They'd come down to investigate, and they could strip the most valuable stuff and come back with the brahmin for the rest of it. Armor, weapons, junk for scrapping, any worthwhile food they could find. Bury and burn the bodies.  
They started back down to collect the squire they'd left behind.


End file.
